fulminate en · VERB · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- (US) audio
- /ˈfʌlmɪneɪt/ (General-American)
- (UK) audio
- /ˈfʊlmɪneɪt/ (General-American)
- (General-American) audio
- /-əneɪt/ (General-American)
- /ˈfʊlmɪneɪt/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- /ˈfʌlmɪneɪt/ (Received-Pronunciation)
Etymology
Inherited from Middle English fulminaten, borrowed from Latin fulminātus, perfect passive participle of fulminō (“to lighten, hurl or strike with lightning”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from fulmen (“lightning which strikes and sets on fire, thunderbolt”), from earlier *fulgmen, *fulgimen, from fulgeō, fulgō (“flash, lighten”). Doublet of fulmine. More at fulgent.
Meanings
-
(figuratively, intransitive) To make a verbal attack.
To be sure, Trump has fulminated on Twitter against the judges who rebuffed him. But his tirades have earned him a reprimand––if a brief, vague one––from his own Supreme Court nominee.
2017 February 15, Peter Beinart, “American Institutions Are Fighting Back Against Trump”, in The Atlantic:In short, the criticism which the great lexicographer fulminated against an unfortunate author, seems to have been adopted by the profession as applicable to everything under the sun […]
1855, William Neilson, Mesmerism in its relation to health and disease, page 46:
-
(figuratively, transitive) To issue as a denunciation.
They fulminated the most hostile of all decrees.
1842, Thomas De Quincey, “Cicero”, in Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine:While they were the opposition, Democrats fulminated that the Republicans were so deep in the pockets of Big Pharma that they wouldn’t even let the government negotiate lower drug prices.
2007 January 21, David Brooks, “Mr. Chips Goes to Congress”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
- (intransitive) To thunder or make a loud noise.
-
(archaic, transitive) To strike with lightning; to cause to explode.
the present owners couldn't afford the electric bills anymore, several amateur gaffers, sad to say, having already been fulminated trying to bootleg power in off the municipal lines.
2009, Thomas Pynchon, Inherent Vice, Vintage, published 2010, page 235:
- (figuratively) to act as lightning, appearing quickly and destructively
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| fulminates | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| fulminating | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| fulminated | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| fulminated | Tense=Past | lexicographic |
Deriveds
Relateds
Synonyms
denounce · condemn · berate · denunciate · vilify · criticize
Translations (18)
es fulminar (To make a verbal attack) · pl grzmocić (To strike with lightning) · fr foudroyer (To strike with lightning) · ru порицать (To make a verbal attack) · pl złorzeczyć (To make a verbal attack) · nb la eksplodere (To cause to explode) · pl grzmotnąć (To strike with lightning) · pl potępiać (To issue as a denunciation) · nb kaste bannstråle imot (To issue as a denunciation) · nl fulmineren (To make a verbal attack) · pl wywoływać eksplozję (To cause to explode) · es fulminar (To strike with lightning) · pl wywołać eksplozję (To cause to explode) · es fulminar (To issue as a denunciation) · pl grzmieć (To make a verbal attack) · pl pomstować (To make a verbal attack) · pt fulminar (To strike with lightning) · pl potępić (To issue as a denunciation)